9/30/13 Monday September 30, 2013 (28 kg complex)

6:45am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 45 minutes (needed lots of extra time on the foam roll, lacrosse ball, just could not get loose due to running 4 miles around the lake yesterday)

7:30am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm 16 kg
12kg armbars - 1 L, 1 R

7:45am - Training session - Single bell 28 kg complex

Warm up -
GSq 24 kg, 5
DB DL 32 kgs, 5, 5/5 alt hands

2X the following, done in circuits.
28 kg TGU, 1+1 (note did these by cleaning and then pressing OH, going to knee/arm, and back up due to rain and wetness and just not wanting to deal with full TGUs)
28 kg 2H SW, 20 (15 last week)
28 kg FSq, 5+5 (3+3 last week)
28 kg 1H SW, 10+10 (5+5 last week)
28 kg C&P, 5+5 (I had to put the bell down after 5 L, 4 R and get the last rep on the R after another clean from the ground - didn't want to miss the last rep badly) (3+3 last week)
28 kg 1H SW, 10+10 (5+5 last week)
24 kg SN, 10+10 (PR, never SN the 24 for this many reps in a set) (5+5 last week)

The circuits took about 32 minutes to complete including the rests between each movement / round.  This is down from 35 minutes last week for 3 sets, of shorter rep counts.

8:30am - Complete

Notes -  Really a very productive and enjoyable training session, albeit yes it was hard at times particularly catching up to me on the the C&Ps.   I intentionally dropped to two sets from three last week but upped the volumes in each set to see how that would affect training.  It was definitely harder this week, more time under load in less overall time for sure.  Really all the lifts felt good albeit on the C&P I did have to put the bell down, take a short rest, and then C&P on that very last rep each set on my R (started L, got all reps).  Interesting as my R side is my strong side but it goes to show you what will happen with accumulating fatigue, and C&Ps with a heavy bell are a bitch.  What a movement though.  I did feel better on my presses this week, tried to get under the bell with my leg on the bell side and really focus on clamping both glutes and squeezing the off arm for additional tension.  My biggest problem today was getting loose before training as I had carryover soreness from running 4 miles around the lake yesterday afternoon.  I have been trying to do a little bit of running just to see how my body reacts and so far I have to say it is not a fail but definitely not a big success either.  

9/27/13 Friday September 27, 2013 (24 kg Snatch 4/4 12 minutes)

6:30am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 30 minutes

7:00am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm 16 kg
12 kg arm bar, 1 L , 1 R

7:15am - Training session - Snatch sets of 4/4 on the minute for 12 minutes with the 24 kg

Warm up -
TGU 24kg, 2+2
CL and rack hold marching 24 kg, 10x each leg L/R
DL 44 kg alt L / R 5, 2X

2H SW 44 kg 2, 3, 5 - 2X

SN the 24 kg 4/4 on the minute for 12 minutes

Total reps in 12 minutes - 48 per arm, 96 total (compares to 15 min at 5/5 with the 20kg last week, 150 reps)

7:45am - Complete

Notes -  Very pleased with this training session today.  My body felt good this morning, best it has all week. Got warmed up reasonably well and once I started swinging the 44 kg I knew it was going to be a solid training day.  Honestly the snatching felt good, again went R first, the L, as I have been doing lately.  Interesting that the movement just feels different on both arms.  R, I have more of a tendency to overgrip and not use the hips, but lockout is very solid and kind of an open hand lockout where the palm is turned toward my head.  On the L side, I think I use my hips well and get the bell to the top for the punch up very well.  On the L side I open up the hand well and the bell is faced forward so my palm is facing out, as opposed to facing my head as on the R side.  Interesting.  The technique though I feel is getting better and I just took my time, paused at a number of lockouts, never felt rushed and keep a consistent pace all the way through.  I definitely respect the 24 kg on the snatch and am quite conscious of technique all around.  I do really enjoy snatching and it is just a powerful, aggressive exercise where you can let loose.  It's awesome.  At this point I would say I feel most comfortable with the 20kg.  The 16 kg is "easy" and feel like it will fly out of my hand.  The 24kg is still "hard" in the sense of if I pushed the reps up any more or cut down the rest periods, I would be hurting.  I definitely need to get extremely comfortable snatching the 24kg since that would be my bell to do Strong First SFG.  The snatch test is 100 reps in 5 minutes with the 24kg and I still am nowhere near being able to do that.  I suspect if I pushed it I could probably get 60-70 reps (about 12-14 per minute; today for example I did 8 reps in about 30 seconds each round, with 30 seconds of rest).  100 reps in 5 minutes with the 24 kg is no joke. Respect.  I will keep working slowly to that goal and my other goal of strictly pressing my 1/2 body weight, which would be a 44 kg.  Also, wow, definitely no joke there.

9/26/13 Thursday September 26, 2013 (TGUs, 40 kg 2H SW)

6:15am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

6:45am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm

Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1

7:00am - Training session - Focus on TGUs, 40 kg 2H SW

24kg, 2+2

Warm up
24 kg 2H SW, 10

40 kg 2H SW, 5, 10X (50 reps)

Finisher
24 kg 1H SW, L/R, 10/10 (alt hands every rep)

7:25am - Complete

Notes -  Just wanted to get some 2H SW reps in with a heavy bell, have not done that in a while.  Loved it.   Not a whole lot to say other than noticed that the L trap was a bit tight, need to do some lacrosse ball release there.  Overall back, hips and quads felt a lot better today and the DOMs from running on Sunday I think has passed.  Frustrating that it lasted several days.

9/25/13 Wednesday September 13, 2013 (DB 24 kg complex)

5:40am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 45 minutes (quite a bit of extra time needed with the foam roll and lacrosse ball.  Right trap, both hips, lower back, right quad very tight, still layover from running on Sunday I believe)

6:25am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm 16 kg
12kg armbars - 1 L, 1 R

6:40am - Training session -DB Sq 24 kgs complex

Warm up -
TGU 24kg, 2X 1+1
GSq 24 kg, 5

DB 24 kgs Complex - 20 minutes timed

Got 6X of the following:
DB CL, 3
DB PR, 3
DB Sq, 3

Got 1X of the following:
DB CL, 3
DB PR, 3 (3rd rep way too hard)
DB Sq, 2

Finished with 3X of the following for the last sets:
DB CL, 3
DB PR, 2
DB Sq, 2

Pace for the first 6X was 1 minute work, 1 minute rest.  At the 8:00 minute mark remaining I took 30 extra seconds for 7X.  Then again went at 5:00 for 8X.  Then 2:30 for 9X.  Then 1:00 for 10X.

Totals:
DB CL - 30
DB PR - 27
DB SQ - 26

7:10am - Complete

Notes -  Interesting day.  So I was up earlier than I have been due to work though this is frankly when I should be training, so I need to get back in that groove of time.  However I took forever to get loose - was very tight I think mainly from running 3-4 miles Sunday even more than Monday's 28 kg complex session.  Once I got into the main training though as you can see I ran into issues after 12 minutes and had to drop down some reps so I did not sacrifice quality.  I did feel my technique was better than last week, so that was good.  Really tried to root hard on those presses.  I need to dominate this weight and I am staying at 24 kgs for this complex until I dominate 10 sets of 3/3/3 and have plenty of gas left in the tank.

Had a huge appetite today and ate like a horse.

Need to get loose and spend more time with Primal Move in the morning and night.  Have mainly been doing OS resets which are great but some of the PM stuff I think will help with this tightness.

9/24/13 Tuesday September 24, 2013 (TGUs, SL DLs)

6:15am - Original Strength and Primal Move - 30 minutes

6:45am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm

Arm bar 12 kg, 1+1

7:00am - Training session - Focus on TGUs, SL DLs

28kg, 2+2

SL DL bodyweight, 5x per leg

28 kg, 1+1

SL DL bodyweight, 5x per leg

28 kg, 1+1

7:15am - Complete

Notes -  Solid day, just about right as I had put in a lot of time on the foam roller last night as I did a 3-mile run on Sunday and was fatigued and tight in the lower back, and did a hard training session with the 28 kg complex yesterday.  Definitely liking the SL DLs and feeling stronger in the movement as I practice more often.  Will eventually bring bells back.  Was also good to TGU with the 28 kg today though I did have one shaky rep on my L side in my first round, which was not great.  Really noticed a need to stay much tighter in various stages of the movement as the weight gets heavy.  Need to dial back up my technique with TGUs and really get tight before even thinking about picking up the 32 kg for reps.  I can easily do it but I suspect without sufficiently good technique.  Time to own the 28 kg.

9/23/13 Monday September 23, 2013 (28 kg complex)

6:45am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 30 minutes

7:15am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm 16 kg
12kg armbars - 1 L, 1 R

7:30am - Training session - Single bell 28 kg complex

Warm up -
GSq 16 kg, 5
DB DL 32 kgs, 5, 5/5 alt hands

3X the following, done in circuits.
28 kg TGU, 1+1 (note did these by cleaning and then pressing OH, going to knee/arm, and back up due to rain and wetness and just not wanting to deal with full TGUs)
28 kg 2H SW, 15 reps
28 kg FSq, 3+3 reps
28 kg 1H SW, 5+5 reps
28 kg C&P, 3+3 reps
28 kg 1H SW, 5+5 reps
24 kg SN, 5+5

The circuits took about 35 minutes to complete including the rests between each movement / round.

8:15am - Complete

Notes -  Wow.  This is what it feels like to be back in the game.  It has been 3 weeks since I had the training accident doing a session of 28 kg complexes.  Took a week to really back off and rest, a week with the 20kg, a week with the 24kg, and felt ready for this.  Lowered the reps in general from last week (squats, 1H SW, presses) but did 3 sets, so this was definitely a good bit of volume still.  Focused on technique, liked everything except I feel like I need practice on my presses to stay tight and not do any lean to the side or back.  Still feel like that is happening on some reps. I was tightening the shit out of my glutes and off hand to stop this and it definitely seemed to help.  Snatches with the 24 were absolutely no problem at all.  Continued to start the snatches with my R as opposed to my L and that seemed to improve technique on the R side.  I also did that a bit with the presses as well to see if that improved the press on the R side.  I think for so long I have been starting all 1 arm lifts with the my L as it is my weaker side, but it has caught up quite a bit to the R and now I need to dial technique on the R better so going to try and even out the starting arm more between sets in the future.

I think next Monday for this session I will mix it up by increasing the reps in each set by going down to just 2 sets from 3, and see how that goes.  Same but different.

9/20/13 Friday September 20, 2013 (SN 20kg 5/5 15 mins)

7:00am - Original Strength, Primal Move drills - 30 minutes

7:30am - Kettlebell warm up ("Standard")

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K pullover - 12 kg, 5X each leg

1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)

1/2K pullover - 16 kg, 5X each leg
Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm 16 kg
12 kg arm bar, 1 L , 1 R

7:45am - Training session - Snatch sets of 5/5 on the minute for 15 minutes with the 20 kg

Warm up -
TGU 20kg, 1+1
CL and rack hold marching 20 kg, 10x each leg L/R
G Sq 20 kg, 5
DL 36 kg alt L / R 5, 2X

2H SW 36 kg 2, 3, 5 - 2X

SN the 20 kg 5/5 on the minute for 15 minutes

Total reps in 15 minutes - 75 per arm, 150 total

8:15am - Complete

Notes -  Well to be able to bump up a bell size in one week, keep volume the same without any issues was a real accomplishment.  This was tough near the end but the reps were solid throughout.  Started these sets with my R instead of my L and interestingly it seemed to help. Not sure what it is about snatching vs. other lifts but I am liking starting with the R side and then ending on L.  My R still needs to be improved with the technique as my L technique seems better to me even though that is my weaker side.  Will monitor this but my reps with the R improved today compared with last week and it may be that I was doing them before the L and thus could really concentrate on good technique before any fatigue set in during each set.

Looking to snatch the 24 next week.  Going to go 4/4 top of the minute, 10 or 12 minutes, we'll see.  Definitely drop the volume and see how it goes with the step up in bell size.

On the 2H SW warmup did a 36 bumped up from a 32, no ill effects and I am getting closer and closer to getting back to having a 2H SW dedicated day with heavy bells.  This was the lift I was doing when I had the slip up a couple of weeks ago so I have been just a little gun shy with it.